Automobile door hinge



y 1, 1953 s. a. ATWOOD ETAI. 2,645,809

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Filed April 19. 1949 ,HORIZ 29 CURVE Seth Bjltwovd Warren J Kush Patented July 21, 1953 AUTOMOBILE DOOR HINGE I n Seth B. Atwood and Warren J; Kush, Rockford, Ill., assignors to Atwood Vacuum [Machine Company, Rockford, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application April 19, 1949, Serial No. 88,298 g f H 1 This invention relates to improvements in automobile door hinges.

The conventional goose-neck type concealed hinges, which have been used on automobile doors for many years, have invariably had the inner, swingable, goose-neck-shaped member that is attached to and sustains the weight of the door made of flat leaf form. A good example of such a hinge is disclosed in Tierney Patent 2,235,241, issued March 18, 1941. Due to the flat section, that kind of hinge member has its principal strength and rigidity in a vertical plane, but is otherwise objectionably weak, inasmuch as it can twist too easily through the gooseneck portion. That is because the pintle end is offset so farin relation to the door attaching end. The gooseneck portion, moreover, has too much give endwise and vertically. This give accounts for door disalignment, because the gooseneck member on the top hinge on a door is under tension, and the gooseneck member on the bottom hinge on the door is under compression when the door is hang ing wide open, and also because both members are, of course, subjected also to some downward deflection, due to the weight of the door, and that deflection may occasionally be augmented by someone resting his weight on top of the door while it is open. The flat section being rolled and formed from bar stock of a uniform width and thickness is, moreover, relatively expensive, and, incidentally, such flat bar stock is not as readily available at the present time as round bar stock of the kind which it is contemplated will be used in the manufacture of hinges made inaccordance with our invention. A seven-eighths inch diameter round bar, we have found, is as easily adapted as a one-and-three-quarters inch wide fiat bar stock to bending and forming to the desired gooseneck-shape and has the same strength in so far as its utility in an automobile door hinge is concerned, but the round bar stock is far superior to the fiat bar stock from the standpoint of its resistance to twisting and its resistance to flexing. tributed alike in all directions instead of mainly in a vertical plane. By making the inner hinge member of such round bar stock, we avoid the objections mentioned above. stock is, incidentally, also easily adapted to be threaded on the attaching end to facilitate adjustably connecting the same to the door, al-.

though an elongated recess or seat may be provided for the attaching end of the round bar hinge member on the door and provision made to clamp the attaching end of the member to the That is because the strength is dis- The round bar 1 Claim. (01. 16-135) seat. The attaching end may also, if desired, be flattened on opposite sides, or on four sides, to fit a mating recess in the door in which the attaching end is adapted to be clamped, whereby to eliminate likelihood of the attaching end turning with respect, to the door. Furthermore, while most advantagesare obtainable using round bar stock, square bar, stock may also be used, and such stockoiiers the'further advantages of af fording flat bearing surfaces to ride in the cage next to the pintlepthe fiat-surfaces provided on such bar stock also facilitating and improving the attachment to'the door;

The use of roundfor square bar stock also gives the advantage that the cage .portion of the outer hinge member "can bemade smaller and, therefore, cheaper, and,, furthermore,' a limiting stop projection to limit door opening movement can easily be provided by having an end portion of the bar stock extend beyond the pintle and arranged to strike the edge of a web portion on the cage disposed at a predetermined radius from the pintle. f

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. 1 is aninside elevational view of an automobile door and its pillar, showing the door in open position, and showing our improved hinges, the inner hinge members of which are made of round bar stock; j a

Fig. 2 is "an enlarged section on the lineZ-Z of Fig. 1, showing our improved hinge construction, and illustrating also the operation of the limit stop;. 7

Fig.3 is aplanview of another hinge similar to those shown in'Figs. 1 and 2, in which the inner hinge member is formed from round bar stock; I

Fig. 4 isa section on the line 4- 4 of Fig. 3,

showing the mode of attachment of the inner hinge member to the door;

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail in a horizontal plane, showing. another mode of attachment of the inner hinge memb er to the door;

Fig. 6 is an endview of the attachingend of the inner hinge member of Fig, 5;

, Fig. 7 is another section similar to Fig. 4, but showing, an inner hinge member made of square bar stock Fig. 8 is a sectional detail on the broken line 8-8 of Fig. 3, and

Figs. 9 to'18are curves showing results of tests comparing the performance of a hinge member of the conventional fiat section design with the performance of hinge members made of threequarters inch and seven-eighths inch diameter round bar stock.

Similar reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughout these views.

We have already pointed out that because the flat section of each of the conventional hinge members lies in a substantially vertical plane, the principal strength and rigidity is in that direction and there is not sufllcient strength and rigidity in other directions. The flat section design: would be all right for an ordinary barn door butt type hinge having straight hingebutt members with hinge loadings of. a. simple type and. easily determinable, but when. correctly analyzed it is far from right for an automobile door hinge of the concealed type, the concealment of the hinge necessitating the use of generally L.-sha-pe'd or gooseneck-shaped inner hinge members, because the extent to which the hinge pintle? is. ofiaset relative to the rest ot the member results in a complex set of stresses and. strains having very little, if any, relationship tov such. concentration of strength and rigidity in a vertical plane- Analysis of the problem fromvarious anglesafter various load-deflection tests. were made on the conventional flat section hinge. members led. us to the conclusion that a hinge member having substantially the same strength in. all. directions comes much closer to meeting the needs of the situation, and that is the main. reason the use of inner hinge members. I80, I86 and; I80 01 round bar stock, or members l8b' of. square bar. stock has been recommended. The sag in conventional hinge members is due mainlyto the. transverse give of the flat section. Now, transverse load deflection test madeon a conventional x 1 /4 flat section hinge arm in. relation to a 1" round bar stock hinge member and a round. bar stock hinge member showed that the. latter had far greater transverse strength and. rigidity, the round bar stock, for example, showing only .024" deflection when under 400 lbs. loading at 6%" distance from pintle, whereas the flat section showed approximately four times as much deflection, namely .095. The deflections. were measured three andone-eighthinches. from the pintle. See Fig. 9 which shows. the transverse load-deflection curves, and Fig. 10 which shows the transverse load-set curves. A hinge member of square bar stock of the same thickness. would doubtlessly show even greater strength and rigidity than one of round bar. stock. Accordingly we have shown in Figs. 1. and 2 the. use. of gooseneck-shaped inner hinge members IB'a. of round bar stock pivoted: by means. of pintles Ila. in the sheet metal outer or cage. members (To. of our improved concealed. hinges. I541 andv Mic. The latter are like the outer or cage members of conventional hinges, but, as indicated inFig. 1,.have their top and bottom walls 40 and (I. closer. together to closely confine the. pintle. bearing end portion 2|. The outer ends-oil the. top and. bottom walls 40 and 4| remote from the web. 14' are bent into a vertical plane to form attaching flange portions 43 which are. secured. t'oithe door pillar portion of the body Ha. in the. usuallway, the plates 44, indicated in. 1,.bei'ng merely cover plates fastened. to the. door pillar on the body to conceal the cage members lla.. Measuring vertically and. horizontally the. deflection of a pair of hinges under different-loadings, such a test shows conclusively that 7;" round bar stock hinge members, like those-shown at: Main. Figs. 1 and 2, have at least twice the strength. and. rigidity of a x 1%" flat sectionhingememr her, due to the circular section afiording increased resistance to twisting as well as transverse bending. Twist alone accounts for a good part of the deflection vertically and horizontally. The torsional stresses are appreciable because of the L-shape or gooseneck-shape of the pintle receiving end portion of the. members, by reason of which the supporting pintle is offset so far laterally relative to the main vertical plane of the body of the hinge member in which most of the strength is concentrated. Another but smaller factor in the consideration of hinge deflection under load of the door is the outer hinge member, and it should be evident from Figs. 3 and. 8. that the. greater compactness of the outer hinge member H'b obtainable with the new bar stock inner hinge member, which, as stated before; enables closer spacing of the top and bottom walls 40 and ll and shortening of the pintle [91), also makes for greater strength and rigidity and hence less deflection. See Figs. 10-17, which show the load-deflection curves and load-set curves for two round bar hinge members I811 compared with a flat bar hinge member l8, considering both the upper and lower hinges and considering both the vertical and the horizontal deflection as well as the set in the case of each hinge. It goes again without saying. that a hinge member of square bar. stock, like that shown at I8b in Fig. 7, of the same thickness as the round bar used in the members 18a would show even greater strength and rigidity than one of such round bar stock.

A hinge [5b is illustrated in Fig. 3, corresponding to either of the hinges l5a. and Na in Figs. 1 and 2, except that the inner hinge member lBb has an extra arcuately bent portion 20 therein next to the right angle pintle bearing end portion 2|. The pintle 19b is entered through a hole 22 provided therefor in the end portion 2|. and it will be noticed that the hole is spaced from the extreme end portion 23, the latter extension being purposely provided for abutment with the web portion 24 on the sheet metal outer hinge member llb positively to limit door opening movement to approximatel ninety degrees (90") from the closed position. The arcuately bent portion 20 is provided for clearance purposes, some door pillars having smaller hinge openings, where a wallv like that indicated at 25' in Fig. 3 would otherwise interfere with the closing of the door, the edge portion. of this wall being accommodated within a radius of the bend 20 inthe closed position of the door. The bar stock used. is so heavy in relation to the thickness. of conventional flat section hinge members that there is no need for. any enlargement in the vicinity of the pintle hole, the ratio of the width of the bar. section to the pintle hole diameter being about 3 to 1, as appears in Figs. 2, 3, and 8.

The attaching. end portion '26. of the hinge member [8b is indicated in Fig. 4 as clamped in an arcuate recess 21 provided therefor in the inner end portionv of the door 121), a clamping plate 28 being provided having a complementary recess 29 provided therein and. having outwardly bent end portions 30 in which threaded holes are provided to receive the fastening bolts or screws 3 I. Foursuch bolts or screws, two on each side of the clamping plate 28, are sufilcient to clamp the hinge member securely, but with freedom for adjustment, so that the hanging of the door at the automobile factory is greatly facilitated. with. this.- construction- Instead of. clamping the attaching end. portion 26, I may, as shown in Figs. and 6, have the attaching end portion 26a of a round bar stock hinge member [80 threaded, as indicated at 32, and milled ofi fiat on diametrically opposite sides, as indicated at 33, and entered through an oblong hole 34 provided therefor in the edge portion 35 of the door I20. Nuts 36 and 3 1 are threaded on the end portion 32 and tightened after proper adjustment, to fasten the hinge member rigidly to the door. Here again the facility with which the door may be adjusted with respect to its hinges in the hanging of the door on the body at the automobile factory is thought to be self-evident.

In conclusion, attention is called in Fig. 7 to the inner hinge member I8b' of square bar stock, the outer or attaching end portion of which is indicated. When that form of hinge member is used, the recess 27' provided in the inner end portion of the door 12d. is of complementary form, and likewise the recess 29' in the clamping plate 28". Screws 3i thread in the end portions 30 of the clamping plate to clamp the hinge members securely to the door. Here again four bolts or screws 3| are preferably employed, two on each side of the attaching end portion of the hinge member.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of all of the objects and advantages of our invention. The appended claims have been drawn with a view to covering all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

We claim:

In a hinge structure rjor use in mounting a door upon a pillar forming one side of a door opening in a vehicle body the combination comprising, a U-shaped outer hinge plate having a pair of spaced legs, a web portion interconnecting said legs'at one end thereof and attaching flange portions at the opposite ends of said legs for securing said plate to said pillar, the legs of said plate being arranged in horizontal planes and having aligned pintle holes therethrough, an inner hinge member having means foratt'achment to the door at one end thereof and having a gooseneck portion and a pintle hole normal to the plane of said gooseneck portion adjacent the opposite end thereof adapted to be brought into alignment with and between the aligned pintle holes in the legs of said hinge plate, said inner hinge member being constituted by a length of bar stock having substantially uniform dimensions along mutually erpendicular transverse axes throughout substantially its entire length, the dimension of said bar stock'along an axis transverse to the axis of the pintle hole therein being substantiallythrice the diameter of said pintle hole, and a pintle extending through the pintle holes in said plate and inner hinge member for interconnecting the same, the distance between the pintle hole in said inner hinge member and the adjacent end of the latter being greater than the distance between the pintle hols in the legs of said plate and the web portion thereof thereby to locate said web portion in the path of movement of the said adjacent end of said inner hinge member and which web portion therefore acts as a stop for said inner hinge member and hence also for the door when engaged by said hinge member.

SETH B. ATWOOD. WARREN J. KUSH.

References Cited in the file of this patent 'UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name I Date 1,046,999 DeVlieg Dec. 10, 1912 1,072,774 Reidhaar Sept. 9, 1913 1,454,257 Ackerman May 8, 1923 1,589,620 Bourgon June 22, 1926 2,121,572 Polden et a1 June 21, 1938 2,133,663 Johnson Oct. 18, 1938 2,147,133 Ackerman Feb. 14, 1939 2,177,294 Soss Oct. 24, 1939 2,200,311 Van Voorhees May 14, 1940 2,200,439 Atwood May 14, 1940 2,215,088 Soss Sept. 17, 1940 2,222,920 Tucker Nov. 26, 1940 2,235,241 Tierney Mar. 18, 1941 2,304,904 Fleming Dec. 15, 1942 

